Heh, Im glad I have inspired you to go sew stuff now. Maybe you could help solve some problems I have with sewing if you keep some scrap material aside and a needle and thread...?

I think once Im done, I will try my hand at making some acessories for it like the ladies top hat, veil and the reticule. (I have made a shitload of reticules and Im thinking of making a one for this dress from the scrap material left over ) Im going to see if I can find some old fashoned looking brown ladies boots at the thrift store tomorrow and see if I can blacken them at the bottom, or something (hard to describe...)

Im going to see if I can get a pattern sorted for my bustle today then I will post it here.

The material you mentioned Nivve sounds cool, I am looking for something that isn't very stretchy, is durable yet a little lighter than linin but I need it to be thick material. (I find that linin drags alot and weighs down the hips.... I guess it depends on how its sewn.) Im going for the middle to upper class 1800's look so I want the material to be eligent looking (striped of course), thick but durable (maybe I should go for a more heavy material... Im just worried the bustle will not hold once I make the tunic overskirt and place it over the top..... I dunno... Help with that would be awsome.) and not too loud.

I liked the idea of something smooth but unfortunately because its periodical to the mid-late 1800's usually they had more curtain material than the smooth stuff and that may be where Im gonna screw up because, as I have said before, Im not sure how the bustle will hold up underneeth the tunic overskirt. Maybe I could find some stripes that are not too loud... Everytime I try to sew stripes, I go crosseyed and screw up.... Heh